Related papers: The Thales experiment
While Quantum Gravity remains elusive and Quantum Field Theory retains the interpretational difficulties of Quantum Mechanics, we have introduced an alternate approach to the unification of particles, fields, space and time, suggesting that…
A closer look (with hindsight) at Newtonian and relativistic kinematics reveals two things. Not surprisingly, Newtonian time remains the empty and artificial - albeit useful - figment it is known to be. Quite unexpectedly however it turns…
This paper puts forward a broad critical analysis of the concept of physical time. Clock effect is conceived as a consequence of the variation of the gravitational or pseudo gravitational potential, and it is remarked that only some real…
Time, space, and matter are categories of our reasoning, whose properties appear to be fundamental. However, these require a scrutiny as in the extreme regime of the primordial universe these present quantum properties. What does it mean…
Theoretical physics is the search for simple and universal mathematical descriptions of the natural world. In contrast, much of modern biology is an exploration of the complexity and diversity of life. For many, this contrast is prima facie…
We investigate the relation between measurements and the physical observables for vacuum spacetimes with compact spatial surfaces in (2+1)-gravity with vanishing cosmological constant. By considering an observer who emits lightrays that…
By exploring a possible physical realisation of the geometric concept of noncommutative tangent bundle, we outline an axiomatic quantum picture of space as topological manifold and time as a count of its reconfiguration events.
Consistency of Weyl natural gauge, Lorentz gauge and nonlinear gauge is studied in Weyl geometry. Field equations in generalized Weyl-Dirac theory show that spinless electron and photon are topological defects. Statistical metric and…
We analyze the notion that physical theories are quantitative and testable by observations in experiments. This leads us to propose a new, Bayesian, interpretation of probabilities in physics that unifies their current use in classical…
This paper presents yet another personal reflection on one the most important concepts in both science and the humanities: time. This elusive notion has been not only bothering philosophers since Plato and Aristotle. It goes throughout…
We introduce here the concept of relative space, an extended 3-space which is recognized as the only space having an operational meaning in the study of the space geometry of a rotating disk. Accordingly, we illustrate how space…
A calculus based on pointer-mark coincidences is proposed to define, in a mathematically rigorous way, measurements of space and time intervals. The connection between such measurements in different inertial frames according to the Galilean…
We show that the arrow of time is intimately related to the geometry and topology of the whole universe, and is therefore best understood as a cosmological phenomenon.
In quantum mechanical experiments one distinguishes between the state of an experimental system and an observable measured in it. Heuristically, the distinction between states and observables is also suggested in scattering theory or when…
String theory has transformed our understanding of geometry, topology and spacetime. Thus, for this special issue of Foundations of Physics commemorating "Forty Years of String Theory", it seems appropriate to step back and ask what we do…
According to General Relativity gravity is the result of the interaction between matter and space-time geometry. In this interaction space-time geometry itself is dynamical: it can store and transport energy and momentum in the form of…
A gauge-theoretic framework for spacetime and gravitation is proposed, in which a Cartan khronon field breaks the symmetry between space and time, enabling the emergence of temporality within a fundamentally Euclidean setting. Based on a…
The problem of understanding quantum mechanics is in large measure the problem of finding appropriate ways of thinking about the spatial and temporal aspects of the physical world. The standard, substantival, set-theoretic conception of…
The nature of the change in perspective that accompanies the proposal of a unified physical theory deriving from the single dimension of time is elaborated. On expressing a temporal interval in a multi-dimensional form, via a direct…
A goal of physics is to understand the greatest possible breadth of natural phenomena in terms of the most economical set of basic concepts. However, as the understanding of physics has developed historically, its pedagogy and language have…